Panel 1: California: the Last Frontier of Creative Freedom in American Design?

PANELISTS:

Mayer Rus, West Coast Editor, Architectural Digest @archdigest Mayer Rus was recently named West Coast Editor of Architectural Digest and was previously the Design & Culture Editor of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He moved to California in 2007 from New York, where he was the Design Editor of Conde Nast’s House & Garden and the author of its popular Testy Tastemaker column as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Interior Design magazine. Rus has written for the New York Times, Vogue, Artforum, and W, and he has contributed essays to recent monographs on the work of Atelier AM and Francois Halard. He lives in Silver Lake with his dog, Linus.

Roman Alonso:Co-Founder and Creative Director ofCommune Design@communedesignRoman Alonso began working in publishing at Connoisseur and Mirabella magazines in New York. He then moved on to public relations and marketing, first at Barney’s New York where he was the Director of Corporate PR and then at Isaac Mizrahi & Co where he was Vice President and Image Director. In 1998, he co-founded Greybull Press in Los Angeles, an art publishing company focusing on photographic books.

Moderator – Mallery Roberts Morgan: Design Writer and Curator/Correspondent of Architectural Digest France@malleryrmorgan Mallery Roberts Morgan is a design writer and curator who lived in Paris for over twenty years and now calls Los Angeles home. Mallery is the correspondent for AD France (Architectural Digest France) and has been a regular contributor to many international publications from The New York Times, Paris VOGUE to 1st Dibs.com As a design curator, Mallery advises private collectors and consults on many design-related projects advising on media relations, brand identities, visual communications, partnerships and special events.

Panel 2: Rethinking Retail: Does Main Street Matter?

PANELISTS:

Coryander Friend: Co-founder and Creative Director, Parachute Market@parachutemarket Coryander Friend is a production designer living in Laurel Canyon, in Los Angeles. With strong roots in set decoration, Friend has worked in film, commercials, print advertising, and fashion for the past 14 years. Coryander is also an active curator in the Los Angeles design community. Friend curates Storefront, a vintage furniture and objects collection, and is co-founder and curator of Parachute Market, a seasonal design fair. Parachute Market is based on the intention to bring to light the importance of how design is presented and experienced within the community, where the platform is relevant, current and includes cultural storytelling. (Source)

Mark Moussa: Founder and Creative Director of Arteriors@arteriorshome A veteran of the home furnishings business, Mark Moussa has an entrepreneurial spirit and intuitive sense of design that was cultivated in him from a very young age. Today, Moussa is the force behind the evolving company, always anticipating what the design community will look for next. His appreciation and understanding of the design process underscores his commitment to the intricate relationship between designers, factories and the skilled artisans who interpret and produce these exceptional products. Moussa’s deep-rooted sense of tradition and his experience-based knowledge are reflected in the products offered by Arteriors.

Matt Jung: Founder of Grover and Wellen @groverusa @wellensurfMatt Jung is the founder of retail sensations Wellen and Grover. Jung originally started the company because he wanted to ride less traditional surfboards and wear more artistically-driven apparel that was otherwise unavailable through surf brands at the time. Wellen is now sold all over the world in many different retailers and even has a collaboration out now with UNIQLO. Jung also started a second apparel company called Grover a few years ago that was originally a side project that we have now refocused as a made-in-LA basics line as well as a monthly subscription box filled with those made-in-LA basics. (Source)

Moderator – DarrenGold:Pop-up curator and Retail Consultant @alphamanla Darren Gold has been the strategic centerpiece behind many creative businesses. Darren is a co-founder of lifestyle retailer Alpha Man, a go-to emporium for males in Los Angeles that is now on the road as a pop-up throughout southern California. Darren has become known for his taste level and knack for buying, merchandising, and curating unique and hard-to-find items. Currently, Darren is hired for his expertise as a retail and fashion consultant with a diverse list of clients and has been featured in Vanity Fair, GQ, DNR, Angeleno, LA Direct, The Hollywood Report, TV Guide channel as well as in WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) as one of five “players” in the LA Fashion scene. Darren also serves as the Chairman of the Board of the West Hollywood Design District and president of The Coalition of Los Angeles Designers.

Panel 3: Animation Magic: Conjuring Design Fantasies

PANELISTS:

Michael Giaimo, Art Director of Frozen#mikegiaimo Michael Giaimo studied animation at California Institute of the Arts from 1976-78 and started his professional animation career in 1978 at Disney, apprenticing on The Fox and the Hound (1981) and The Black Cauldron (1985), later contributing early character designs to Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1987). In 1992 Giaimo began to art direct Pocahontas (1995) and after a period of freelance designing, he was asked back to Walt Disney Feature Animation in 2009 to art direct Frozen (2013). Giaimo is currently art directing a Frozen short for release in 2015, as well as developing other film projects at the studio. In his spare time he’s an artist and decorator of the sensitively restored Jacobson Residence in Silverlake, designed by Edward H. Fickett. Originally designed for George and Miriam Jacobson in 1953, this post and beam mid century modern was renovated first in 1986 then again in 2003-4. It has been featured in several books, including Forgotten Modern by Alan Hess, and Los Angeles Houses.

Moderator- Frances Anderton,Host ofKCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture @kcrw@francesanderton Frances Anderton is the executive producer and host of KCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture, a multi-platform exploration of what, and who, matters in our designed world – on radio, podcast, blog and at public events. For many years she produced KCRW’s award-winning national and local current affairs shows, To The Point, and Which Way, LA?, hosted by Warren Olney. Frances Anderton is a frequent public speaker and writer on architecture and design. She is currently curating an exhibition, “Sink Or Swim: Designing For A Sea Change”, to open December 13 at the Annenberg Space for Photography.

Panel 4: Do Designers Need to Become Brands?

PANELISTS:

Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Founder and Creative Director, Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design@martynbullard Martyn Lawrence Bullard is a multi-award-winning Los Angeles based interior designer and is renowned for his broad range of styles and eclectic, yet sophisticated and always inviting interiors. Although known mainly for his high-end residential design, he has also lent his talent to commercial and hospitality, designing the Colony Palms Hotel, Jimmy Choo Stores worldwide, and currently the Chateau Gutsch Hotel in Switzerland to name but a few. Martyn Lawrence Bullard is consistently named one of the world’s top 100 interior designers by Architectural Digest and is featured permanently in Elle Décor’s A-List top 25 tastemakers in the world. Martyn has recently added a whole new collection to his furniture line as well as created a range of beautiful concrete, stoneware, and mirrored tiles with Ann Sacks.Cliff Fong, Interior Designer and Co-founder of Galerie Half @mattblackeinc Cliff Fong calls Los Angeles his home and has been part of this fertile design community for two decades both as an interior designer, fashion designer and entrepreneur. As a fashion buyer, stylist and designer, he worked with Ron Herman and Maxfield amongst other international retailers and luxury brands. In 2004 he cofounded an artisanal unisex collection, Chatav Ectabit, with Sandy Dalal. As an interior designer, he creates unique, personal and often unexpected environments, drawing from various inspirations. In 2009, with partners, he opened Galerie Half, a sprawling emporium of 20th century design, European antiques, architectural elements and art.

Peter Dunham, Interior and Textile Designer, Founder of Hollywood at Home@hollywoodathome Los Angeles-based designer, Peter Dunham, began with an apprenticeship under David Hicks while studying International Business Administration. Dunham has been named a House Beautiful “Top 100 Designer” five years in a row; House & Garden named him a “New Tastemaker” in 2005; and Western Interiors listed him on “The List” of designers and architects three years running. His work has been published in almost every design and shelter magazine in the U.S. and abroad, including The World of Interiors, House Beautiful, Elle Dècor, Architectural Digest, Veranda, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, W, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and C Magazine. In 2007, Dunham opened Hollywood at Home, a retail outlet that provides design-savvy customers with an extraordinary collection of interior textiles, custom home furnishings and must-have vintage pieces.

Moderator – Mallery Roberts Morgan

Panel 5: Open Forum: Social Entrepreneurship Very Good Or Too Good To Be True?

PANELISTS:

Jeff Denby, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of PACT @jeffdenby Jeff Denby is the Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of PACT where he manages all design, product development and branding for the company. Jeff took a circuitous route to the world of organic socks and underwear, starting his career as an engineer working in oil and gas, urban planning and even alternative fuels at General Motors. Since founding PACT in 2009, Jeff has led PACT from selling its first collection of underwear online to a full-scale global lifestyle brand available in more than 1000 retail outlets with partners such as Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and Amazon. Over the past 4 years, PACT has worked with nonprofits to plant trees in Africa, distribute LED lanterns in Haiti, help rebuild a community center in Japan after the tsunami, make coats for the homeless in Detroit and raise over $100,000 to build urban gardens across America.

PANELISTS:

Merle Ginsberg,Senior Style Writer,The Hollywood Reporter@thr Merle Ginsberg is currently Senior Style Writer for the Hollywood Reporter and THR.com, covering fashion and beauty and how they intersect with Hollywood and business. She was for twelve years the Entertainment Director of W Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, and for three years, Entertainment Director of Harper’s Bazaar. She has done interviews, cover stories, reviews and essays for Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Elle Decor, Cosmopolitan, In Style, The New York Times Magazine, the London Times Magazine, the New York Post, NME in London, Glamour UK, Glamour and Marie Claire Australia, and the Village Voice. She’s also a tv commentator for CNN, The Today Show, Access Hollywood and Good Morning America – and a bestselling author of books.

Marcy Medina, West Coast Bureau Chief,WWD (Women’s Wear Daily)@womensweardailyAs WWD’s West Coast Bureau Chief, Marcy Medina covers the intersection of fashion, beauty and Hollywood 24/7. Since 2000, Medina has interviewed stars and designers on the red carpets of the Golden Globes, Grammy Awards, Academy Awards and more. Through two decades of hands-on reporting and one-on-one interviews, Medina has gained both an intimate and broad stroke perspective on the fashion industry’s relationship with Hollywood. Prior to joining the staff of WWD in 2000 as its first West Coast Editor, Medina worked as the first Fashion Editor at Movieline Magazine; Associate Editor at E! Online (where she originated the Fashion Police column); and Features Associate at Vogue magazine in New York.